गौडीयैर् नित्यकर्मत्यागस्य वैष्णवम् प्रत्याख्यानम्

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विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)

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May 16, 2024, 9:43:56 PM5/16/24
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गौडीयैर् अङ्गीकृतस्य नित्यकर्मत्यागस्य वैष्णवम् प्रत्याख्यानं किञ्चन सतां रञ्जनायात्र प्रस्तुतम् ।   

( परिष्कृतपाठो ऽत्र लभिष्यते )


महाभक्तैः नित्य-नैमित्तिक-कर्म-हानम्


प्राचीनाः


जीवगोस्वामी भक्ति-सन्दर्भे -

तावत् कर्माणि कुर्वीत
न निर्विद्येत यावता ।
मत्-कथा-श्रवणादौ वा
श्रद्धा यावन् न जायते ॥
[भा।पु। ११.२०.९]

कर्माणि नित्य-नैमित्तिकादीनि इति टीका च । अत एव—

श्रुति-स्मृती ममैवाज्ञे
यस् ते उल्लङ्घ्य वर्तते ।
आज्ञा-च्छेदी मम द्वेषी
मद्-भक्तोऽपि न वैष्णवः ॥

इत्य् उक्त-दोषोऽप्य् अत्र नास्ति,
(“तावत् कुर्वीते"त्य्) आज्ञा-करणात् ।
प्रत्युत जातयोर् अपि निर्वेद-श्रद्धयोस्
तत्-करण एवाज्ञा-भङ्गः स्यात् ।

… अतो भक्त्य्-आरम्भ एव तु स्वरूपत एव कर्म-त्यागः कर्तव्यः ।

परित्यज्य इत्य् अत्र परि-शब्दस्य हि तथैवार्थः ।

विश्वनाथ-चक्रवर्ती -

तेन लोक-सड्ग्रहार्थम् अश्रद्धयापि पित्रादि-श्राद्धं कुर्वतां महानुभावानां शुद्ध-भक्तौ नाव्याप्तिः।

मायावाद-प्रभावः


shrIdhara-svAmI’s TIKA of bhAgavata forms the basis of gauDIya commentaries. Hence, their karma-tyAga views are consistent with mAyAvAda.
shrIdharI is not more natural at all. It’s more a lazy annotation, rather than a proper commentary (many a time he explains one word in a verse and leaves it).
Early commentators likely did not have access to - say - vIrarAghava’s bhAgavata commentary (0 hits in ShaT-sandarbha).

अर्वाचीनाः


“A bhakta has no faith in varṇāśrama duties.”

“Bhakti is totally different from varṇāśrama dharma in its very svarūpa.”

Source: T. kRShNa-dAsaH

“bhakti destroys prArabdha karma”

Source: T. kRShNa-dAsaH

(It seems that the post author has gone well beyond what rUpa and jIva say.
eg. “Śrī Rūpa has defined prārabdha” - no he just pointed out one prArabdha. It’s implied that not all prArabdha-s are destroyed. )

त्यक्त्वा स्वधर्मं चरणाम्बुजं हरे- र्भजन्नपक्‍वोऽथ पतेत्ततो यदि । यत्र क्‍व वाभद्रमभूदमुष्य किं को वार्थ आप्तोऽभजतां स्वधर्मत: ॥

cancels out the possibility of pratyavAya doSha existing for an ekAntin, however still he should do it for LS.

तावत् कर्माणि कुर्वीत न निर्विद्येत यावता । मत्कथाश्रवणादौ वा श्रद्धा यावन्न जायते ॥ The main concept here is that Bhakti alone is capable enough to bestow all auspiciousness there is no necessity to depend on karma etc.
Bhagavan gives another statement here which is visheSha(as against sAmAnya in case of ordinary dhArmikas), now if pratyAvaya bhaiya remains after this, then that is agya-ullanghana

There is no “vaDakalai” type faction among gauDIya-s.

प्रत्युक्तिः


शृति-स्मृत्योर् वैष्णवत्वम्


Other flaws aside, jIva should’ve applied his own logic properly:

अथ यदि वैष्णव-शास्त्रोक्तौ तौ,
तर्हि विष्णु-सन्तोषैक-प्रयोजनाव् एव भवतः ।
तयोश् च तादृशत्वे श्रुते सति
तदीय-राग-रुचिमतः
स्वत एव प्रवृत्त्य्-अप्रवृत्ती स्याताम् -
तत्-सन्तोषैक-जीवनत्वात् प्रीति-जातेः ।

Why didn’t it occur to him that
shruti and smRti are vaiShNava-shAstra-s only!?
bhagavAn and service to him is the essence of all shruti and smRti. Hence, nityakarmas (unlike kAmyas) therein are instructions to “paramaikAntins” only (ममैवाज्ञा), even if via indra, agni, rudra & co. Obv excludes tAmasika-shAstras.
If bhakti were perfected, the bhakta would certainly perform svadharma to the best of his abilities.

भक्तेष्व् अपि प्रत्यवाय-सद्भावः


vedAntadeshika would say - disobeying AjNA is contrary to sharaNAgati, and will have consequences - albeit smaller.
What is the nature of pratyavAya if not nigraha by bhagavAn?
Should a bhAgavata not fear it?

आज्ञाकैङ्कर्य-स्थाने/काले (eg nityakarma) ऽनुज्ञाकैङ्कर्यं (eg bhajana) न भक्त/शरणागत-योग्यम्।

What’s pratyavAya of भजन् स्वधर्मत्यक्ता relative to भजन् स्वधर्मकर्ता? delay in mukti - expressed in

न हि कल्याण-कृत् कश्चिद्
दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति ।
प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकान्
उषित्वा शाश्वतीः समाः ।
शुचीनां श्रीमतां गेहे
योग-भ्रष्टोऽभिजायते ॥
etc..

अज्ञानेन कर्म-स्खालित्यम्


a Bhakta doing something which is called nitya-lIlAsmaraNam(a practice in sampradaya), which is dhyana of Bhagavadlila, and is an act of Bhakti, if it goes for a long time where the bhakta has no sense of time.. He misses his nitya karmas, he will not think that he has attained dosha, since He was performing bhakti.

That case would be subsumed under “yathA-shakti"ness of nitya-karmas,
and does not contradict the compulsory nature of nitya-karmas.

श्रद्धया कार्यत्वम्


नारदपञ्चरात्रे नारायणवाक्यं श्राद्धकथनारम्भे-

नाचरेद्यस्तु सिद्धोऽपि
लौकिकं धर्ममग्रतः।
उपप्लवाच्च धर्मस्य
ग्लानिर्भवति नारदः ॥
विवेकज्ञैरतः सर्वैर्
लोकाचारो यथास्थितः।
आ देहपाताद्यत्नेन
रक्षणीयः प्रयत्नतः॥

इति।

श्रद्धया हि कार्यं श्राद्धम् इति नारदपाञ्चरात्राभिप्रायः। न च कृष्णो “अश्रद्धया युद्ध्यस्वार्जुन” +इति ब्रूते। अयं तु विश्वनाथार्योऽन्यथा जगाद।

If in a forest (no lokasangraha), should one do nitya-karma? Yes.

धर्म-परित्याग-वचनानि


Even in gIta bhagavAn says “sarva-dharmAn parityajya” without asking arjuna to abondon the fight (<- tAmasika-tyAga)

The karma-dharma-tyAga conception of bhakti itself is incorrect. What would you say about the bhakti of a servant who refuses to obey your express commands and praises you instead?

त्यक्त्वा स्वधर्मं चरणाम्बुजं हरे- र्भजन्नपक्‍वोऽथ पतेत्ततो यदि । यत्र क्‍व वाभद्रमभूदमुष्य किं को वार्थ आप्तोऽभजतां स्वधर्मत: ॥

does not impel svadharma-tyAga. The hierarchy is -

भजन् स्वधर्मकर्ता > भजन् स्वधर्मत्यक्ता (>?) अभजन् स्वधर्मकर्ता > अभजन् स्वधर्मत्यक्ता

It only expresses the भजन् स्वधर्मत्यक्ता , अभजन् स्वधर्मकर्ता ambiguity. It doesn’t say: भजन् स्वधर्मकर्ता = भजन् स्वधर्मत्यक्ता .
People mistake relative statement for absolute; and consolation for approval. For, if he is “sinless”, whence the “fall”?

तावत् कर्माणि कुर्वीत न निर्विद्येत यावता ।
मत्कथाश्रवणादौ वा श्रद्धा यावन्न जायते ॥

sAmAnya-visheSha-vyavasthA indeed is a good way to resolve the verse conflict - however, it is superior to make the differentiation in action, rather than the performer. This should be taken to refer to non nitya-karmas.

गौडीय-प्रशंसा


Despite flaws, the gauDIya-s should be credited for getting many things right.
Even the flaws are not exclusive to them - there were confused pre-gauDIya “bhakta”-s (including part of the tenkalai sect).
Indeed, gauDIya-s (esp ISKCON) are heroes in spreading bhagavad-bhakti among folks cut off from sat-sampradAyas.

Disclaimer: If one disagrees with sayings of any AchArya, it is ok to say that he was confused, did not get it right etc.. That doesn’t count as a personal attack (as in “that AchArya was a charlatan/ cheat/ lecher etc..” ) . It’s centered on ideas, rather than the person.


--
--
Vishvas /विश्वासः

Varadhan TA

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May 17, 2024, 7:19:22 AM5/17/24
to विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki), चेतो-देव-जीवादि-तत्त्व-विचारः


" Even the flaws are not exclusive to them - there were confused pre-gauDIya “bhakta”-s (including part of the tenkalai sect). "


what makes you state that "part of thenkalai sect" had some flaws with respect to nitya karmanushtana/karma in general?

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विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)

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May 17, 2024, 8:08:10 AM5/17/24
to Varadhan TA, चेतो-देव-जीवादि-तत्त्व-विचारः
On Fri, 17 May 2024 at 16:49, Varadhan TA <tavar...@gmail.com> wrote:


" Even the flaws are not exclusive to them - there were confused pre-gauDIya “bhakta”-s (including part of the tenkalai sect). "


what makes you state that "part of thenkalai sect" had some flaws with respect to nitya karmanushtana/karma in general?

I haven't read AchArya-hRdayam, but multiple people (including gauDIya-s) cite it as being close to their unorthodox views.

Further, there are records of such from before the time of venkaTAdhvarin to the present (the infamous samayAchAra-pattrikA [mis?]attributed to erumbiyappa to "statue of equality" website), which make me admit this.

Varadhan TA

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May 17, 2024, 11:14:11 AM5/17/24
to विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki), चेतो-देव-जीवादि-तत्त्व-विचारः
It will be better if you read whatever you want to rely upon, in an authentic manner (i.e. understand the nuances of what is said in what work, and why, and the context - of course making sure that the source is a real source and not some attribution without any solid evidence) before you make up strong opinions and/or statements. 

also, having an unorthodox view does not make that view confused, or a flawed view - it may not be the orthodox/trad view, but as long as it has pramaNa (and proper logic applied to pramaNa if needed), how can one say it is flawed/confused?

विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)

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May 17, 2024, 11:56:04 AM5/17/24
to Varadhan TA, चेतो-देव-जीवादि-तत्त्व-विचारः
On Fri, 17 May 2024 at 20:44, Varadhan TA <tavar...@gmail.com> wrote:
It will be better if you read whatever you want to rely upon, in an authentic manner (i.e. understand the nuances of what is said in what work, and why, and the context - of course making sure that the source is a real source and not some attribution without any solid evidence) before you make up strong opinions and/or statements. 

Given that I was referring to practices or lack thereof, records of such in kAvya-s and elsewhere would qualify, I would think - https://groups.google.com/g/cheto-deva-jivadi/c/cp6ELlTyKWQ/m/6Gdwg-gcBAAJ
Regarding the work I haven't read, I welcome corrections if what I heard was incorrect. 🙏

 
also, having an unorthodox view does not make that view confused, or a flawed view - it may not be the orthodox/trad view, but as long as it has pramaNa (and proper logic applied to pramaNa if needed), how can one say it is flawed/confused?

Sure, I agree with this - I was using "unorthodox" as a euphemism out of politeness - the said views are indeed flawed from the perspective presented in the original post here. 
As an example of absurdity and very poor textual interpretation, one can see https://groups.google.com/g/kalpa-prayoga/c/iqe5I5SU4sQ .

विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)

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Sep 23, 2024, 7:30:36 AM9/23/24
to चेतो-देव-जीवादि-तत्त्व-विचारः
अत्रेतोऽपि विचारः। स्वावगतौ कशन दोषोऽस्ति चेत् सदयं सूचयन्तु। 
भक्तिसन्दर्भस्य १७३-तमे परिच्छेदे जीवगोस्वामिनो विचारस्यायं सारः। 

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नित्य-नैमित्तिक-कर्मादि त्याज्यं वा न वा?

  • एषु न त्याज्यम्
    • अजात-श्रद्धेषु
    • जात-श्रद्धेषु
      • प्रतिष्ठितेषु (लोकसङ्ग्रहकृत्सु)
      • वैशिष्ट्यकामेषु (“स्वर्ण-सिद्धि-लिप्सोर् इव सदा तद्-अनुवृत्ति-चेष्टैव …”)
      • महद्-अपराध-विवारयिषुषु (“अत एव चित्रकेतोः श्री-महादेवापराधस् …”)
  • एषु त्याज्यम्
    • जात-श्रद्धेष्व् अप्रतिष्ठितेषु

अजात-श्रद्धेषु श्रद्धाङ्कुरवत्सु तु (भविष्ये?) नित्य-नैमित्तिक-कर्मादि-त्यागो बोधनीयः (“स्वयं निःश्रेयसं विद्वान् …”, “जुगुप्सितं धर्म-कृते ऽनुशासतः …” ) ।

इत्थं श्रद्धायां जातायाम् अजातायां वा महान् सम्भ्रमः -

अस्य जनस्य श्रद्धा ऽस्ति न वा?
किम् ओषधेस् स्थाने भगवत्-पाद-तीर्थम् अवलम्बते?
नास्ति चेत् श्रद्धाङ्कुरम् अस्ति प्राचीनसंस्कारतः?

कर्म त्याज्यं न वा? कदा?
अहम् समाजे प्रतिष्ठितः?
कर्मस्व् अनुवर्ते चेन् मम दोषो भवति वा? अहं कर्मण्य् अधिकारी वा?

इत्यादौ।

तद्-व्याख्याता श्रीहरिदासबाबावर्यस् तु तस्मात् पक्षाद् बिभ्यन्न् इव

कर्म-त्यागक्तिषु काम्य-कर्म-त्यागं वदति (काम्य-शब्देन साधारणतय नित्य-नैमित्तिक-भिन्नानि कर्माण्य् उच्यन्ते),
यथा भक्ति-सन्दर्भे १७६-तमेऽनुच्छेदे -

काम्य कर्म के फल में आसक्त (कर्म-सङ्गिनाम्), काम्य कर्मादि में अनधिकार (कर्माद्य्-अनधिकारश् चेति) , काम्य कर्मादि शून्य (सर्व-धर्मोज्झिता), काम्य कर्म परित्याग (कर्म-त्यागः कर्तव्यः), काम्य कर्मत्याग (त्यक्त-कर्मणः), काम्य कर्म त्याग (कर्म-परित्याग)।

किञ्च हन्त - मूले स्वरूपतो हि निरनुतापो नित्य-नैमित्तिक-कर्म-त्याग उक्तः ("कर्माणि नित्य-नैमित्तिकादीनि")।

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तद्-अपेक्षयैतादृशं चिन्तनं वरम् भाति। 

“तावत् कर्माणि कुर्वीत


न निर्विद्येत यावता ।
मत्-कथा-श्रवणादौ वा

श्रद्धा यावन् न जायते

In such verses, karma/ dharma should be taken to refer to various non nitya karmas.
Particularly, rAmAnuja takes such verses to refer to “karma-yoga” - which is understood to be daily scheduled performance of specific services to the Lord - separate from nitya-naimittika-karma-s
(where there is no question of abandonment by any dhArmika).

This approach is far simpler to understand, defend and practice compared to the confusion and complexity of the approach proposed by bhakti-sandarbha 173. The decision tree instead would be:

सर्वैर् अपि नित्य-नैमित्तिक-कर्माण्य् अवश्यम् अनुष्ठेयानि।
वर्णाश्रमधर्मो न त्याज्यः - योद्धव्यम् एवार्जुनेन।

कर्म-योगस् त्याज्यो वा न वा?
कस्मिन्न् अपि त्याज्यम् इति प्रतिबन्धो नास्ति (अतोऽनुवर्तने न हानिः)।
एषु तु न त्याज्यम् एव -

  • ज्ञान-भक्ति-योगयोर् अनर्हेषु
  • ज्ञान-योगे ऽर्हेषु सुप्रतिष्ठितेषु (लोकसङ्ग्रहार्थम्)

अत्रैतावान् एव विचारः भक्तियोग-मार्गगश् चेत् -

मया ऽऽत्म-साक्षात्कारो लब्धः? शरीर-सम्बद्ध-पुत्रादिभिर् न मुह्यामि?
अहम् समाजे प्रतिष्ठितः?

शरणागति-मार्ग-ग्राहिषु सा ऽपि चिन्ता नास्ति।

विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)

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Feb 17, 2026, 9:07:08 AM (11 days ago) Feb 17
to चेतो-देव-जीवादि-तत्त्व-विचारः
It seems that shrI baladeva vidyAbhUShaNa offered a corrective fix (by expanding lokasangraha obligation as applying to _everyone_ visibly situated in varNAshrama-dharma, not just notables.

https://youtu.be/p8RCWpUrhBs - A video surveying the same.
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